Doubt over welfare system as Tory peer steps down

Lord Freud said he had full confidence in the future of universal creditDave Thompson/PA

The architect of welfare reforms announced yesterday that he was retiring from the government.

Lord Freud, who oversaw the universal credit system from 2010, will retire from his post at the end of the month. Despite reassurances from within government, his departure casts doubt on the future of the credit system.

The welfare benefit was designed to unify a series of payments and ensure that it always paid to work. Stephen Crabb, the former work and pensions secretary, said that the peer was the department’s “corporate memory”.

Lord Freud has been important to Conservative efforts to reform welfare. He has, however, attracted controversy during his time in the post. Under David Cameron, he was recorded saying that disabled people were “not worth” the minimum wage…